Explosive-engine.



Patented Jan. 7, I902.

Nu. 690,48l.

. F. 0. SWEET.

EXPLUSIVE ENGINE.

(Applica tion filed, Apr. 10, 1900.) (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet Wzirmss'es j o"; I

Patented lan."7, 1902'.

F. 0. SWEET. EXPLOSIVE ENGINE.

(Application filed Apr. 1O 1900.j

(No Model.)

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PETERS co. Puo1aumo..wAsumsmN. n. c:

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK D. SWEET, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

EXPLOSlVE-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 690,481, dated January 7, 1902.

Application filed April 10, 1960. Serial No. 12,375. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK D. SWEET, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Elyria,

in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Explosive-Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of the invention is to provide an explosion-engine which will be durable, efficient, easy-running, and self-governing.

The improvements relate to the means for operating the several valves employed in proper sequence, to the means whereby the carbureter is caused to act at the proper time relative to the other parts of the engine to form the explosive mixture and to deliver it into the explosion-chamber, and to the means for automatically governing the operation of the engine, all of which will be hereinafter described, and pointed out definitely in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of the engine when the exhaust-valve is open. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the carbureter and ofthe shaft by which the carburetor-valve, the exhaust-valve, and the igniter are operated. Fig. 3 is asectional plan view on line 3 3 of Fig.1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the explosion-chamber and exhaust chamber, designed particularly for showing the igniter; and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan View showing the means for operating the igniter.

The engine is constructed to operate according to the Otto cycle, and the following is a description of the engine as shown in which my invention is embodied.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents the cylinder, which has near its closed end a port a, through. which the explosive mixture enters the cylinder and the exploded gas escapes therefrom. This port is always open and connects the cylinder with the explosionchamher F, which is located at one side of the cylinder. An exhaust-chamber H, located below the explosion-chamber, is separated therefrom by a partition h, in which is a port h.

.An exhaust-valve E is adapted to close this port and is normally held down upon its seat by means of a spring e, which surrounds the valve-stem and thrusts endwise against a collar e on the valve-stem and against the lower wall of the explosion-chamber, through which the valve-stem passes. The exhaust-pipe I is connected with said exhaust-chamber. A carbureter B is connected at its upper end through the port fwith the explosion-chamber F. A valve K, which when it opens moves inward-that is, toward the explosion-chamber-is held to its seat by a spring which thrusts against an adjustable nut 10 on the valve-stem k and against a fixed barf.

The piston M is connected by an ordinary connecting-rod m with the crank it on the shaft N. A shaft D, which is mounted at right angles to the shaft N, receives its motion therefrom through two beveled gears d and n, which are secured to said two shafts, respectively, and are so proportioned that the shaft D revolves half as fast as the shaft N.

A sleeve G surrounds the shaft D and has a tongue-'and-groove connection therewith, whereby they must rotate together, but the sleeve may move endwise upon the shaft. The shaft passes through a fixed bracket P, in which it has a bearing. A roller g, which is mounted on the side of the sleeve G near its lower end, is adapted to ride upon the top face of the bracket P and upon the cam 23, which is fixed to the said face as the shaft and sleeve are revolved. It is clear, therefore, that during a part of each revolution of the shaft D the sleeve G will be raised by the action of the fixed cam 19 upon the roller g. The sleeve G passes througha hole in an arm S, which is pivoted to a fixed support. A part of the sleeve G which is in the embrace of this arm has an annular groove 9 which fits the hole in the arm, wherefore the upand-down movement of the sleeve G must necessarily be accompanied by a like movement of the arm S. The upper end of the sleeve G lies just beneath the lower end of the stem of the exhaust-valve E, which stem rests upon said sleeve G. It will be understood, therefore, that every time the sleeve G is raised the exhaust-valve E is lifted from its seat. This sleeve G also carries two cams g g When the sleeve is in its lowest position, the cam g is adapted to actuate the in g-circuit is connected with this shaft.

other rock-shaft V passes through the parti- 3 tact=arm t.

igniter, and the cam g is adapted to operate f on the'under side of the said plug by means of a rat-trap spring t, which embraces the shaft T and is secured at its ends to the shaft and to the plug. This shaft, it will be understood, is insulated from the other parts of the mechanism, and one wire a: of a spark- Antion It and through the lower wall of the exhaust-chamber and has its bearing for most part in a sleeve 71 secured to said lower wall. On the inner end of this rock-shaft within the explosion-chamber is a laterally-extended contact-arm 1), which normally liesin contact witha fixed pin 72, and-isheld in such contact by means of a rat-trap spring 1), which surrounds theshaft and is secured at one end to it and at the other end to the said bearingsleeve h To the lower end of this rock-shaft a laterally-projecting arm n? is secured, and this arm is in a-position to be engaged by the cam 9 When the sleeve G is in its lower position. When during the revolution of the sleeve G this cam does strike this arm o, it turns the shaft against its spring, thereby moving the contact-arm vagainst the con- This results in the rubbing together of these contact-arms and in the rocking of the rock-shaft T. \Vhen the cam g leaves its engagement with the arm 0 the two rat-trap springs o move the two rockshafts rapidly in the contrary direction until the contact-arms again come in contact with the said pins. Just before this happens, however, the contact-arms separate, wherefore, because one wire as of the sparking-current is electrically connected with said shaft V, because it is connected with the metallic frame ofthe Hlt0hli16,*tll1 electric spark passes between these two contact-arms, wherefore the explosive mixture is ignited. The primary advantages of the particular construction "described of the contact-arms are that they automatically clean themselves by their rubbing contact and the contacting surfaces are always bright. Moreover, they are selfadjusting to compensate for wear, for the rattrap springs will act to return the contact arms to the relative position shown and into contact with the stop-pins however much these surfaces may be worn. Expensive platinum points are therefore not needed, and these arms may be made of any comparatively inexpensive material. I prefer to use nickelsteel.

The carbureter includes a vertical tube B,

connected at its upper end, as before stated, with the explosion-chamber. The lower end of this tube is closed by a check-valve b, which is held to its seat by a spring I), whose tension may be adjusted. The carbureter-tube B is connected near its lower end with a valve-casing 11 having a recess b which is connected by means of a pipe U with a gasp-e 'lene supply-tank. The opening or port b 1n this casing contains a valve b which is seated by a spring I), and it has a stem b which extends laterally into a position to be engaged by the cam 9 On the side of the valve toward which it opens the recess in the valve-casing passes downward to form a pocket 19 into which the gasolene may flow, and a small tube 12 communicates with this pocket and enters the carbureter-tube and is turned upward. This same pocket is in open communication with the outer air through the small port b In the carbureter-tube are a plurality of screens 1), which actto cause the admixture of the gasolene-vapor-and the air.

The construction of the parts having been described, a brief description of their operation is in order.

In Fig. 1 the position of the parts isshown when the piston is moving upward, expelling the exploded gases. It will be noticed that the sleeve G is raised at this time by reason of the contact of the roller g with the fixed cam p, and therefore said exploded gas passes freely'from the explosion-chamber into the exhaust-chain ber and out through the exhaust-pipe I. When the sleeve G is thus raised,the cams g g thereon are raised above the arms with which they are intended to engage,and theytherefore cannot perform "their functions. When, however, the sleeve falls, asit ordinarily does when it has been revolved past the fixed cam 13, at which time the piston will have reached the upperendof it's stroke, the exhaust-valve will close. Then as thepiston goes down it sucks into the explosionchamber out of the-carbureter its charge of the explosive mixture. Just before the pieton begins to move down the cam g strikes the valve-stem b and opens the valve 19 and permits a small quantity of gasolene to flow into the pocket 12 This valve is only kept open a very shortspaceof time. Then the suction of the piston sucks air through the port b into the carbureter and also causes the vaporization of the gasolene as the air passes through, which gasolene-vapor passes up throughthe tube?) into the carburetor-tube B, mingling withtheair and with other air which enters thebottom'of the carburetor-tube past the valve b. This mixture constitutes the explosive mixture, which, as before stated, is drawn into the explosion-chamber-andinto the cylinder while the'piston is moving downward. The piston then moves upward and compresses its charge of the explosive mixture, and just as it reaches the top of its stroke the cam c, which has previously engaged with arm 0 and rocked the rock-shaft V to cause the contact of the two contactarms 12 and t in the explosion-chamber and the completion of the electric circuit, leaves its engagement with said arm 0, whereupon the rat-trap spring moves the two shafts in the reverse direction and causes the sudden separation of the contact-points, whereby a spark is made, the mixture ignited, and the explosion takes place. These operations are repeated indefinitely. Means are provided, however, whereby the engine is governed so that it cannot run away. On the shaft D are secured two laterally-projecting arms an, to which are pivoted two bell-crank levers u u,

- which have weights 1& u on the lower ends of their vertical arms. The horizontal arms are connected by links 16410 with a vertically-mow able sleeve u which embraces the shaft. This sleeve is operatively connected with the lower end of a bent lever W,which is pivoted to the bracket P. When the shaft rotates with sufficient rapidity, the balls are thrown out ward, the collar is drawn downward, and consequently this lever, or rather its upper end,is thrown inward, so that an adjustable arm w, carried by said lever, engages beneath the outer end of the arm S, and thus holds it up, and it in turn holds up the sleeve G. When the sleeve is up, the exhaust-valve is open, and therefore the piston may move up and down freely, because the air can pass freely into the upper end of the cylinder past said valve. \Vhen the engine slows down the governor-balls will drop and the described parts move in the reverse direction, whereby this arm S will be released, wherefore the sleeve G will drop to its normal position, where it can operate the igniter and the oarburetervalve.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In an explosive-engine, in combination, a rotatable shaft, a sleeve thereon adapted to rotate with the shaft and slide longitudinally upon it, a cam connection between said sleeve and a relatively stationary part for causing said sleeve to shift longitudinally on the shaft, an exhaust-valve, means for operating it extending into the path of said sleeve whereby the shifting of the sleeve opens the exhaustvalve, a carburetor-valve, a cam on said sleeve for opening the same said cam operating at a different point in the rotation of the same from the cam connection which causes the shifting of the sleeve, substantially as described.

2. In an explosive-engine, in combination, a shaft, a sleeve thereon revoluble therewith and also shiftable longitudinally thereon, an exhaust-valve havingits stem alined with said shaft and carrying a shoulder adapted to be engaged by said sleeve when shifted, an igniter-shaft, a cam on the sleeve for operating such shaft, a cam connection between said sleeve and a stationary part for shifting the sleeve to open the exhaust-valve, said two cams operating at difierent parts of the rotation of the sleeve, substantially as described.

3. In an explosive-engine, in combination, a shaft, a sleeve thereon rotating with the shaft, and shiftable longitudinally, a cam connection with a stationary part for causing such longitudinal shifting, an exhaust-valve having its stem parallel with said shaft and carrying a-shoulder adapted to be engaged by the sleeve to open the valve, an igniter-shaft parallel with the exhaust valve, a carbureter-valve controlling the hydrocarbon admission, a pair of cams on said sleeve adapted in their rotation to operate the igniter, and open the hydrocarbon-valve, substantially as described.

4. In a hydrocarbon-engine, in combina tion, a-rotatable shaft, a sleeve thereon rotat ing with the shaft and shiftable on it, a cam connection causing such shifting of the sleeve, an arm or collar movable longitudinally with the sleeve, a centrifugal governor on said shaft, an arm movable thereby into the path of said collar, an exhaust-valve operated by the longitudinal shift of said sleeve whereby when the speed becomes too great the governor may lock the shifting of the sleeve and thus hold the exhaust-valve open, substantially as described.

5. In an explosive-engine, in combination, a shaft, a sleeve therein rotatable therewith and also longitudinally shiftable thereon, a cam connection for causing such longitudinal shift, an arm or collar movable longitudinally with the sleeve, an arm controlled by a centrifugal governor adapted when the speed is too great to engage said arm or collar on the sleeve, anigniter, ahydrocarbon-valve, cams on said sleeve adapted to normally operate said igniter and hydrocarbon-valve but renderedinoperative when the governor operates as described, and an exhaust-valve operated by the longitudinal shifting of the sleeve and adapted to be held open thereby when the governor so operates, substantially as de scribed.

6. In an explosiveengine, in combination, a rotatable sleeve, a cam connection for giving it a longitudinal shift as it rotates, a collar or arm movable longitudinally with said sleeve,- a centrifugal governor, a pivoted arm operated thereby, an adjustable arm moved by the governor-arm and adapted to lie in the path of the collar or arm which is shiftable with the sleeve thereby rendering inoperative the longitudinal shifting mechanism, and governing-valves normally controlled by said sleeve but rendered inoperative when the described engagement of the governor-arm takes place, substantially as described.

7. In an explosive-engine, in combination, a rotatable shaft, a bracket concentric therewith, two bell-cranks pivoted to said bracket, weights on one of the ends of said bell-cranks, a shiftable collar on said shaft, links connecting the other ends of the bell-cranks with the collar, a sleeve on said shaft, a cam carried thereby, a valve or igniter operated by said cam, a cam connection adapted to cause a longitudinal shifting of said sleeve as it retates, an exhanst-valve operated bysaid shifting, and an arm moved by the governor to engage'a projection movable with said sleeve 5' and hold such shifting cam connection out of Witnesses:

operation and thus retain the exhaust-valve E. G. JOHNSON, open, substantially as described. G. H. ARNOLD.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK D. SWEET.- 

